London plays defence
A series of foreign bidders snapping up British companies this year has raised fears that the local market is losing its relevance, with a particular worry that strategically significant businesses will go to overseas buyers.
Enter Cerberus, the US private equity firm founded in 1992 by billionaire investor Stephen Feinberg, which is nearing a £1bn deal to carve out the defence business of the London-listed engineering group Goodwin.
The deal, which the FT revealed on Tuesday, could be finalised within days, according to people familiar with the matter. Goodwin’s shares dropped sharply after the story.
Cerberus has a record in the aerospace and defence sector, while Feinberg last year left his post as the firm’s leader to become the US Department of Defense’s de facto chief operating officer under Pete Hegseth.
However, its planned carve-out of Goodwin’s assets could lead to scrutiny given the sensitive nature of the 143-year-old British company’s operations.
If Cerberus was able to seal the deal, it would mark the latest military asset with British roots to be sold to an American company after Lockheed Martin outbid rivals a couple of months ago to buy naval technology group Ultra Maritime.
Goodwin, which had attracted interest from several buyout firms earlier this summer, is a component supplier for the Royal Navy’s nuclear submarines.
It also works with America’s Virginia- and Columbia-class submarines, guided-missile destroyers and Gerald R Ford-class aircraft carriers. That may mean officials on both sides of the Atlantic are paying attention.